Cameron Burrows picks Ohio StateHigh school junior Cameron Burrows, ranked as the No. 1 football player in the state of Ohio by Rivals.com, announced his oral commitment to Ohio State at his high school, Trotwood-Madison, on Jan. 19, 2012.

TROTWOOD, Ohio — Seated in Urban Meyer's office last Sunday, cornerback Cameron Burrows, ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 junior in Ohio in recruiting's Class of 2013, had an announcement to make. And he was the only one who knew it was coming.

"I'm taking my talents to Ohio State," is what Dionne Miller heard her 16-year-old son say to the new coach of the Buckeyes. First came the shock, then the hugs and photos. Dionne and Andre Burrows, who had discussed Ohio State with their son but had no idea he had made up his mind, were so taken off guard, Meyer still jokes with Cameron about the size of his mother's eyes as the words came out of his mouth.

"I wasn't expecting him to pull the trigger," Andre Burrows said. "I was a bit surprised. It was pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless."

It was a moment that was bigger than just a high school junior and his parents. Meyer hasn't yet signed the Class of 2012, with National Signing Day on Feb. 1, but he already has the first oral commitment and a leader for the Class of 2013, which will be the first class at Ohio State that Meyer has a chance to fully recruit. And for Trotwood-Madison, coming off a Division II state title, Burrows could be a first step in establishing the Buckeyes at a Dayton-area power where they haven't been particularly active in recent years.

That was a trend that the players and administrators at the school noticed. The last Trotwood player to go to Ohio State was safety Will Allen in the Class of 2000, who received his offer while he was a junior at Trotwood before transferring to Huber Heights Wayne for his senior year of high school. Before that, tight end John Lumpkin had been in the 1994 class. But while Michigan and other Big Ten schools pulled players from Trotwood, there was what current Trotwood Athletic Director Guy Fogle called a "glass ceiling" when it came to Ohio State.

Now with a first-team All-Ohio high school player, who Fogle also said ranks No. 7 in the junior class with a 3.5 grade-point average, that could be ready to change. Meyer and OSU defensive coordinator Luke Fickell visited Trotwood in tandem about two weeks ago. Trotwood coach Maurice Douglass, a former NFL player, said he expects both Ohio State and Michigan, with Dayton native Brady Hoke in charge, to regularly walk his hallways for years to come.

And that's why getting a player such as Burrows, out of a school such as Trotwood, more than a year before he will be able to officially sign with the Buckeyes in February 2013, was big for the Buckeyes.

"It's going to be a great relationship," Douglass said of Meyer. "He already stated that he wants to make this a hot spot for him and his coaching staff."

Burrows is a good friend of Trotwood senior safety Bam Bradley, who holds an OSU offer but is also seriously considering Pitt and Stanford as Douglass wonders if the Buckeyes already have too many safeties. And junior linebacker Mike McCray, who visited Ohio State in December with Burrows and Bradley, doesn't have an offer from Ohio State yet, but the No. 9 junior in Ohio is hoping for one and said Thursday that the Buckeyes would immediately jump into his top three.

But this day was about Burrows, who, despite his words to Meyer four days earlier, kept the suspense going at his Thursday afternoon news conference. Dressed in a suit, with a red shirt, he picked Ohio State's cap from among the six on the table on the stage at his high school, and then said he has already gone to work trying to build the 2013 recruiting class.

Jalin Marshall of Middletown, ranked as the No. 2 junior in the state by Rivals, has said he will announce his decision Jan. 31 and could be headed for Ohio State. The No. 3 in-state player in the class, Dymonte Thomas of Alliance, has already announced his intention to attend Michigan.

"He wants to be a major part of that class, so he got the ball rolling," Andre Burrows said of his son. "I think a lot of people are about to be surprised about what's about to happen."

At 6-1 and 190 pounds, Cameron Burrows has good size and speed for a corner. He said he plans to enroll early at Ohio State next January, which would give him a jump at playing early by going through spring football. That's a long way off, but Douglass said he will tell other coaches that Burrows is off-limits since he has given an oral commitment.

"I know I have what it takes to be able to be a Buckeye," Burrows said. "Everybody here grew up being an Ohio State fan, so for them to recruit me, it's just an honor."

Will Allen, the current Pittsburgh Steeler and former Buckeye, was on hand to support the player he remembers watching in peewee football. He was glad for Burrows.

And he was glad for what Burrows can mean to his former school, which he felt he had to leave before his senior year because of the instability in the football program back then.

"He's a pioneer, he's a trailblazer," Allen said of Burrows. "He's a scholar as well and he's a good-hearted kid, and he's going to be great at Ohio State and it's indicative of other kids here at Trotwood.

"He's going to play on Sundays. You can see it now. His instincts, his demeanor, how he prepares himself for his business -- he may not know it yet, but as someone who's been [in the NFL] for eight years, I can tell you, you can see it. If he stays focused, the sky's the limit."